“One of the biggest challenges in technology transfer is to prove to the FDA that what was made in the lab can be made on a large scale to the same quality standards,“ said Lawrence Tamarkin, president and CEO of CytImmune Sciences. Tamarkin presented the first talk of the summer professional development series hosted by the Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins University. CytImmune Sciences will soon begin Phase 2 clinical trials on a colloidal gold based product that provides targeted and concentrated delivery of a tumor destroying substance.

INBT’s summer professional development series offers students an opportunity to learn from industry representatives on a number of topics related to research and relevant to success in the sciences. Topic range for protecting ones intellectual property to seeking venture capital support,

“These talks allow the students to expand their ideas beyond the focus on their research,“ says Denis Wirtz professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering and associate director of INBT. “It also gives them a better perspective on the ways their research can help society.“

Wirtz added that Tamarkin’s talk highlighted the importance of persistence in research. “Tamarkin emphasized how one must multitask—you must care about the science and manage the public perception of nanoscience as well.“

Talks begin at 11 a.m. and are held in room 303 of Shafer Hall. To attend any of the seminar series talks listed below, please RSVP to Ashanti Edwards via e-mail at aedwards@jhu.edu or by phone at 410-516-6572.

Cross-sectional autoradiograms of rodent brains showing (A) control physiological state; and (B) and (C) showing
distribution of brain injury from an injected neurotoxicant. Red areas indicate the highest concentrations of a
biomarker that identifies brain areas that are damaged by the neurotoxicant. Credit: Guilarte Lab

Little is known about how engineered nanomaterials and nanoparticles impact human health and the environment. Particles at the scale of one-billionth of a meter—so small they can slip across the blood-brain barrier—pose many questions about the safety of nanotechnology used in products consumed and used by humans. The Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins University recently awarded $100,000 to fund research projects that seek to answer these questions. Four $25,000 seed grants were given to multidisciplinary research teams to fund pilot projects across Johns Hopkins. [Read more…]

The Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins University has been awarded a $1.6 million T-32 National Cancer Institute training grant to recruit two outstanding trainees every year with MD and/or PhD degrees and diverse backgrounds in either biochemistry, physics, molecular/cellular/cancer biology, or an engineering/physics discipline. Postdoctoral fellows will conduct research in nanotechnology for cancer medicine. Please check the Website of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology in the coming weeks for more details on this exciting opportunity and information about how to apply.

Peter Searson, professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Institute for Nanobiotechnology, has been named the inaugural Joseph R. and Lynn C. Reynolds Professor.

Searson’s research interests include the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials, electrodeposition and patterning, and applications for nanotechnology in biology and medicine. He led the launch of the Institute for Nanobiotechnology, which was established May 15, 2006 as a cross-divisional center with research interests in the basic sciences, engineering, medicine and public health. Searson joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in 1990, having received his PhD in 1982 from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.

Joseph Reynolds earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins in 1969. He is the founder and CEO of RTI Consulting LLP, founded FTI Consulting Inc., is a university trustee, and is the current chair of the National Advisory Council. In making the gift of this professorship, Reynolds’ vision was to give the dean and the school the flexibility to select a recipient from any department in the Whiting School of Engineering.

To optimize the strength of materials and structures used in biomedical applications, one must apply the principles of mechanics. This can become a challenging task in these multiphysics settings, says Lindsey Smith, a second year doctoral student in civil engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Smith is a member of the NanoBio IGERT with the Institute for NanoBioTechnology. Funded by the National Science Foundation, IGERT stands for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship.

Smith’s interest in structures and engineering blossomed after taking a high school introductory course on the topic. “I was always strong in math and science,“ she says. “I also was fascinated with architecture and large buildings.“ Smith graduated in 2003 from Columbia University with a major in Engineering Mechanics, which she describes as the study of the application of mechanics to civil engineering. [Read more…]

In his book “Life’s Matrix: A biography of water,“ author and Nature consulting editor Philip Ball declares that water is the “weirdest liquid.“ Dilip Asthagiri, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, would agree. “There are very many puzzling features in all of aqueous chemistry and biology,“ says Asthagiri, an affiliated faculty member of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology. With a sub nanoscale diameter of about 3 Angstroms (0.3 nanometer), Asthagiri says, the water molecule is “more ‘nano’ than nano“ and an understanding of water is integral to this emerging science. [Read more…]

Assistant Professor Sharon Gerecht, an affiliated faculty member of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, recently earned the Maryland Academy of Science’s 2008 Outstanding Young Engineering (OYE) award. The OYE award recognizes the extraordinary scientific contributions of Maryland residents under the age of 35.

Gerecht studies how changes in micro- and nano-scale environment can affect the growth and function of stem cells with focus on vascular development and regeneration. Gerecht is looking at ways to direct stem cell differentiation by engineering different chemical, mechanical and physical environments upon which the cells grow. This may have implications on how stem cells could be used in medical therapy.

“I believe that we are now in a unique position in which we know more about stem cells, their isolation, characterization, and have a basic understanding of their biology,“ says Gerecht. “This enables us to integrate advanced microengineering tools to better control their behavior both in the lab and in the body after transplantation“

As part of her award, Gerecht received a $2,500 cash prize and the Allan C. Davis Medal, named for the former Science Center board chairman whose gift helped fund construction of the Davis Planetarium. The Maryland Science Center, located at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, is visited by more than 500,000 people each year.

Gerecht is the third INBT affiliated faculty member to be honored with an award from the Maryland Science Center. In 2007 David Gracias, also an assistant professor in the in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, received the OYE award. And in 2006, Anirban Maitra, associate professor of oncology and pathology at the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, was awarded the center’s Outstanding Young Scientist Award.

The Johns Hopkins Alumni Association annually recognizes university faculty who demonstrate superior skill in instruction with its Excellence in Teaching Awards. More than a dozen faculty members across JHU received the 2008 Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Awards, one of whom was Hai-Quan Mao, an affiliated faculty member of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology and assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The following was taken from a recent issue of the Johns Hopkins Gazette.

At the Head of the Class

Academic divisions honor their own with Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Awards

Excerpt from the Johns Hopkins Gazette, May 19, 2008 | Vol. 37 No. 35

Hai-Quan Mao, Materials Science and Engineering

Hai-Quan Mao recalls his response last semester when one of his students botched the first part of a Thermodynamics of Materials midterm exam. “I was curious and a little upset because I had gone over the material with this student in a tutorial session,“ said Mao, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The student, among those who nominated Mao for the teaching honor, describes the event a bit differently. “I first realized that Dr. Mao was a unique teacher when, after the first day of the Thermodynamics midterm, he called me on my cell phone because he was ‘a little surprised that I did not answer all of the questions correctly,’ as we had conversed about the material several times prior,“ the student wrote on a nomination form. “He requested that I meet him in his office 10 minutes later, and we reviewed the first section of the exam.“

This story, the student said, had a happy ending: “Dr. Mao’s exceptionally sincere gesture to ensure that I understood all of my errors before the second part of the exam was successful,“ the student wrote. “I continued to perform well because of his help and ended up with an A in the challenging course.“

Mao was pleased to hear that his teaching is getting through to his students, particularly because English is not his first language. Mao was raised and educated in China and learned English in high school and college. “At the beginning, I was a little concerned about not communicating effectively with my students,“ Mao said. “That made me try harder in finding good ways to teach.“
His ties to Johns Hopkins go back to 1995, when he became a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He later spent four years conducting research at a Johns Hopkins affiliate in Singapore. In 2003, he joined the Whiting School faculty, focusing his research on the design, synthesis and application of polymeric materials for drug and gene delivery and tissue engineering.

Despite the demands of this research, he continues to maintain a close rapport with his students, fielding questions even outside of his regular office hours.

“I find it so hard to say no to students when they knock on the door, particularly those who are sincere to learn,“ Mao said. “But if you do a good job in class, the number of students knocking on the door will eventually go down.“

George Sgouros, professor of radiology and affiliated faculty member of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins University, is one of the scientists featured on the CBS Evening News in a segment on nanotechnology for cancer. [Read more…]

A standing-room-only crowd packed Owens Auditorium of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center May 1 to hear how future cancer detection and treatment will involve tools and therapies designed at the scale of molecules and atoms. More than 500 people attended the annual NanoBio Symposium hosted by the Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT) on May 1 and 2 at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Along with Thursday’s Nanotechnology for Cancer workshop with 10 Hopkins faculty presenters, the symposium featured talks by distinguished speakers and a poster session representing nano-related research from several university divisions and beyond. [Read more…]

Tilak Ratnanather, an associate research professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, is one of 14 winners of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. The honor, presented last week, is given by the White House to individuals and organizations in recognition of the crucial role that […]